Wednesday, June 14, 2017

. . . hundreds of people in
hoodies, heavy coats, and wool blankets braced against the wind. . . . dentists
arriving from five states were getting ready to fix the teeth of the first
1,000 people in line.
. . . better-off Americans spend
over $1 billion each year just to make their teeth a few shades whiter.
Millions of others rely on charity clinics and hospital ERs to treat painful
and neglected teeth. Unable to afford expensive root canals and crowns, many
simply have them pulled.
. . . . . .
She looked at some of the others
who had come here, despite working for a living cutting down trees, building
homes, minding a town library, running small businesses.
“We are not staying home, not
sleeping and living off the government,” she said. She tried not to look at the
51-year-old truck driver lying next to her who’d had three teeth pulled, his
mouth stuffed with gauze. . . . [She said] “It’s like a Third World country.”

(Originally appeared in The Washington
Post)

Something is seriously wrong when
people doing essential work for a society don’t get paid enough for medical
care.

A new idea that might be the best
solution for closing the obscene gap between rich and poor is popping up in
magazines and public discourse. When I first heard of the UBI, I thought, “No
way! Impractical!”

UBI stands for universal basic
income or giving everybody, no matter what work or no work they do, a certain
sum of money.

“I think they call this
"communism," was the reaction from my friend Ron.

On the downside, it would be
expensive and take away the incentive to work. In the May 2017 issue of The
Nation, Peter Barnes advocates a universal base income as distinct from basic
income—only a few hundred dollars a month rather than enough to live on.

It
would cost the government less and pose no threat to the work ethic. If the sum
were low enough, say $10,000 a year, most people would still have to work, but
less likely out of despair or desperation at a job inappropriate for them.

A universal basic or base income
would replace at least some social safety-net programs, making it less
expensive for governments. And more money available to non-rich people would
stimulate the economy by boosting household spending. If funded by taxing
pollution and speculation such as Wall Street transactions, a UBI could help to solve more social problems.

I see implications for peace. It
would reduce stress and friction between classes. Crime could drop
dramatically—another saving for government. If funded by taxing pollution and
speculation such as Wall Street transactions, a UBI could also help to solve
societal problems. In the long run, I believe a UBI would save money besides
immeasurably improving society.

If the UBI is not yet an idea whose
time has come, it’s being tested experimentally. Barnes thinks a UBI could come to pass if enough groups
worked for it. He suggests

millennials (the first generation
earning less than their parents),

on-demand workers or temps,

women,

African Americans,

retirees and near-retired,

and poor of all types. Together
these groups make up a large part of the population.

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